This invention relates to an educational aid. More particularly, this invention relates to a visual aid that allows students and educators to visually associate educational topics with imaginary geographical features.
Educators have long struggled with coordinating and teaching the numerous and differing topics taught in our schools. Topics such as math, science, art, English, and history differ in many ways from each other. Certain topics may be so unrelated that no commonality exists between the topics. Further, particular subtopics within a topic may differ so greatly from one another that their only similarity seems to be the common topic under which they are categorized.
On the other hand, many topics and subtopics are so interrelated that in order to understand one topic, a knowledge of the building blocks of another topic is required. In this sense, some topics are interdependent with other topics. Unfortunately, segmentalization in teaching has become the rule and, therefore, individual topics and subtopics, even though highly related, are taught in isolation. Therefore, the integration of topics during the learning process is often absolutely necessary to the learning process.
The importance of integrating topic learning is seen notably in math and the sciences. In these areas, failing to acquire and integrate earlier skills and understandings can preclude learning later skills and understandings. For example, before students can begin understanding the basic science concept of speed as distance over time, they must have basic skills and understandings from such already interrelated math topics as division, multiplication, fractions, and ratios. Depending upon the specific situation, knowledge may also be required in scientific methods and measurement, logical analysis, general problem solving, and vocabulary.
As the student progresses, the importance of topic integration increases. More advanced students are often required to solve problems in the sciences that have a large math component. Solving these problems requires a knowledge of not only the scientific laws involved but a solid understanding of the mathematics required to solve the problem. This requires the student to have a detailed memory of topics previously learned within the subject as well as dependent learnings from other math or science areas already studied. Often times, the student has sufficient knowledge to solve a particular problem but cannot access the information that is required. Good students typically have learned strategies for locating and organizing information that stems from differing areas and are therefore more successful in solving the problems. Poorer students, on the other hand, may have an equal understanding of the specific areas but be unable to access and organize the required information.
The problems of topic isolation and topic interdependence together provide a great many of the challenges of learning. Because topics and subtopics intricately interrelate with one another, educators and students often struggle to define boundaries. Once established, these boundaries seem artificial and contrived. From a student's perspective, the segmentalized teachings seem to stand apart thereby promoting the notion that the differing topics do not relate to one other. Topic isolation often leads students to believe that proficiency or lack of proficiency in one topic will not affect their performance in other topics. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, however, true competence and mastery requires a broad knowledge base, and proficiency in a single area rarely is useful by itself.
The result of the segmentalizing of topics invariably means a sacrifice of holistic understanding in return for the ease of teaching individual topics. Sacrificing holistic understanding, however, is only a result and not a requisite of the segmentalized teaching process. While the tradeoff has helped teachers teach, it has caused students to think in a segmentalized manner. The segmentalization of topics will always provide the basis of teaching practice. However, in order to provide a holistic understanding, the topics must be consistently and powerfully interrelated with one another after they have been taught.